1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for locating stolen property, and more particularly to locating a stolen electronic device, such as a computer, using electronic mail.
2. Description of Related Art
Personal computers have become increasingly compact and portable and, thus, now commonly accompany business travelers into a variety of unprotected, public places. As a result, these items have become a favorite target for thieves. Portable computers, such as notebook and laptop computers, are commonly stolen in public places such as airports.
Many computers, especially portable computers, are equipped with modems for remote communication. These modems allow the user access to services such as remote connections to office networks and the Internet. In addition, the modems allow the user to transmit and receive facsimiles and electronic mail messages (e-mail).
E-mail Format
An e-mail typically has at least three components, a sender address, a recipient address, and message data. An Internet mail address has two parts, separated by an "at" sign (@). A sample mail address is:
name@domain
The "name" portion of the address is a string of characters, typically letters and/or numbers that represent the person sending or receiving the e-mail. The name may be a portion of the user's name or an alias for that person. The "domain" portion represents the destination or origination of the e-mail, which is typically a host service. The domain name generally represents the server where the individual referenced by the "name" portion receives or sends e-mail. The domain name commonly takes the form of "server.com" or "server.org", where ".com" represents a commercial entity, and ".org" represents an organization. Thus, an e-mail address of "jsmith@mailserver.org", may represent a user John Smith who receives e-mail at the domain of mailserver.org. Multiple recipient addresses usually may be specified in a single e-mail.
The message data represents the section of the e-mail that contains information that the sender wants to convey to the recipient such as a text message, encoded files, attached files, or the like.
Messaging Protocol for E-mail
There are a number of different messaging protocols for transmitting e-mail like those described above either in use or being proposed. Examples of messaging protocols are Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), Extended Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (ESMTP), Post Office Protocol (POP), and Unified Message Protocol (UMP). For illustrative purposes, this specification will describe the use of SMTP protocol. However, it is to be understood that the invention may be implemented using any messaging protocol that is now known or in the future may become known in the art.
When sending an e-mail, a computer transmits the e-mail through a modem using, e.g., SMTP protocol. EUDORA.TM. sold by Qualcomm, Inc. of San Diego, Calif. is an example of an application program that sends e-mails in SMTP format.
Systems to Track Stolen Computers
At least one known computer tracking system for locating stolen computers exists. A user desiring to use this system first installs a software program on his computer. The software program instructs the computer to call a third party monitoring service at regular intervals. When the computer calls the monitoring service, the computer establishes a data link and transmits data to the monitoring service that identifies the computer. When the monitoring service receives a call from the user's computer, the monitoring service is able to determine the location of the computer by utilizing Caller ID. The location of the computer may then be forwarded to a law enforcement agency so that they may retrieve the computer. However, such a tracking system is not optimal because it requires a third party monitoring service. This monitoring service charges a fee for monitoring. In addition, the system is not optimal because the system incurs long distance charges that result from the periodic phone calls to the monitoring service. (Even if 1-800 numbers are used, the charges are still indirectly paid by a user subscribing to the monitoring service). The presence of such long distance phone charges may also alert a thief to the monitoring, thus reducing the effectiveness of the tracking system.
Thus, there is a need for a more optimal method of locating a stolen computer.